Attachment for aircraft to render same invisible.



Patented Mar. 18, 1919.

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y w. n. MCCORMACK. ATTACHMENT FOR AIRCRAFT T0 YRENDER SAME INVISIBLE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.20, ISI?.

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WILLIAM D. MCCORMACK, 0F NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.

ATTACHMENT FOR AIRCRAFT T0 RENDER SAME INVISIBLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 18, i919.

Application filed August 20, 1917. Serial No. 187,303.

To all lwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM D. MCCOR- MACK, a citizen of the United States residing at Nashville, in the county of l)avid son and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in At tachments for Aircraft to Render Same Invisibleand I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention relates to improvements in attachments for air-craft to render the same invisible. It consists in applying a detachable sheathin made of light flexible material, which may e readily applied and removed as desired, and it ma be varied uo suit pending conditions of t e weather. rIhus in clear Weather, with blue sky, I provide a flexible sheathing of substantially sky blue color, while in cloudy or foggy weather, I provide a iexible sheathing of gray color.

rllhis sheathing may be made or any suitable material, preferably translucent material, such as Celluloid or other suitable material, which is made the desired color, and which is silveredor bronzed on the face thereof next the air-craft so that the light passing through this translucent material may be reiiected outward, and will have the same color as the sky or the clouds, as the case may be.

This material is intended to be applied to only the more prominent parts of the aircraft, such as on an areoplane, the wings, body portion, the tail, diving rudders, struts etc., while with a dirigible the more prominent parts would be similarly covered especially those parts exposed to view rom below.

Instead of sheathing the entire aeroplane as described, the wings, rudders and part of the tail of the aeroplane may be -made of transparent material which may be reinforced with'wire if desired, andthe stanchions, engine room, cock pit and other arts of the aeroplane may be sheathed as hereinafter described.

My invention will be more clearly understood after reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a side elevation of an aeroplane of well known type, showing the sheathing applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a view on alargerscale of a portion of one of the wings with the inapplied thereto.

1g. 3 shows a view on a larger scale of a palr of the fastening ribs used to connect the sheathing to the aeroplane.

Fig. 4; shows a section on the line 4.-1 of Fig. l, looking in the direction of the arrows, and shows the mode of attaching the sheathing to the body of the aeroplane.

Fig. 5 shows one of the struts detached from the machine with the sheathing applied thereto.

Fig. 6 shows a section along the line 6-A-6 of Fig. 5, looking down, the parts being shown on a larger scale.

Fig. 7 is a detail showing one of the brackets for holding the straps in place on sheath- .the body of the machine.

Fig. 8 shows on an exaggerated scale lone of the translucent sheets having a silvered face.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a yportion of a wingV made of transparent material.

Fig. 10 shows a cross section through a pair of the fastening straps shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. ll shows a U clamp for use on the edge of the wing, and of the rudders, and

Fig. -12 shows'an l. clamp for use at the corners of the body of the aeroplane.

In practice it is only necessary to apply the sheathing to the .wings A, A', the body portion B, struts C, steerin rudder D, and divin rudder E, as the ot er parts of the machiney would -ordinarily be invisible at any appreciable distance, but the sheathing may be applied to all parts of the machine except the propellers, if desired.

'The sheathing consists preferably of a.

sheet of material 1, such as Celluloid or other suitable material more or less translucent, and made the desired color so as to render the same substantially invisible.

The inner face of this sheet next the part to be screened, is silvered as at 2, see Fig. 8.

TheseV sheets may be conveniently applied tothe wings A bythe metal straps 3 hinged together as at4 at one end, and fastened togetherat the other end as at 5,' by bolts and nuts, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. These straps may be further secured to the wings by means of bolts and nuts 6; as shown in Fig. 2.

In order to secure the sheathing to the body of the machine I preferably provide flat sheets, as shown at I in Figs. 1 and 4, which sheets may be held in place by the so.v

metal straps 7, hinge together as fastened as at 9, see ig. 4l.

ln order to prevent these straps trom sliding longitudinally on the body of the aeroplane, l may provide guide brackets 10, as shown in llig. 7, which have guide lugs ll, and bolted to the body of the machine by bolts or rivets passing through the holes l2.

rl`he steering rudder is similarly provided with sheathing plates l, fastened to it by means el' the straps 18 similar to those al ready described with relation to the Wings. ln the same Way the diving rudders'E may have the sheathing applied thereto by means of the straps lil. lhe struts C may have the sheathing applied thereto by means et straps i6, hinged together as at l?, and fastened at the opposite side, as at 18, see Figs. 5 and 6.

Aall of these straps 3, 7, 13, lll and 16 are preferably rounded eriteriorly, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to diminish the resistance to the air.

rllhesesheets should be of standard shapes to lit the various types ot machines, and the securing metal straps should also be made oitl standard. sizes and arranged so as to be quickly assembled or removedfrom the machine, so that diiierent colored sheathing may be applied when desired.

lt is not necessary to have the sheathing all blue or all gray, as indicated, it may be Vmottled; that is, it may be partly blue or partly gray, or for night work the sheathing may be made black or darlr brown, if desired, so as not to be visible.

The straps may be made of aluminum et galvanized steel, or suitable material, and may be colored or nickeled to match the sheathing used.

l have 'found in practice that the light 'will pass through the translucent 'face of the material and will be reflected bach, causing the blue sheathed aircraft to be practically invisible in a blue shy, and a gray sheathed craft tobe practically invisible in a gray instead of sheathing the entire aircraft with the invisible material, a larger part or" the aeroplane may be made of transparentl gather.

W hen the straps 7 pass over the angular corners of the body of the aeroplane, l.. clamps 22, see Fig. l2, may be interposed between the straps 7 and the angular corners orP the aeroplane body. Tlhile l have illustrated the sheathing as applied to a loi-plane, it Will be obvious that it may be applied also to monoplanes, triplanes, hydroaeroplanes, or to dirigibles.

l do not mean to limit myself to any particular mode or attaching the sheathing to the air-craft, as this might be done in a great Variety of Ways Without departing from the spirit ot my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what i claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. .el sheathing for air-craft comprising a series of strips of flexible translucent material colored to suit Weather conditions, .with means for detachably connecting said sheathing to the air-craft, substantially as and for the purpose described. l

2. A sheathing for air-craft comprising a series oi' strips of dexible translucent material colored to suit Weather conditions, each strip being provided with a silvered backing adjacent to the part of the air-craft to be screened, with means tor detachably connecting said sheathing to the air-craft, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. A sheathing :tor air-craft comprising a series of strips of iiezrible ltranslucent material colored to suit Weather conditions, With a series of metal straps hinged together in pairs for detachably connecting said sheathing to the air-craft, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. A. sheathing for air-craft comprising a series or strips of exible translucent material colored to suit Weather conditions, each strip being provided With a silvered backing adjacent to the part of the air-craft to be screened, with a series of metal straps hinged together in pairs for detachably connecting said sheathing to the air-craft, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. ln aeroplane having the Wings, rudders and part ot' the body portion thereoi:` made oi' transparent material andthe stanchiens and remainder of the body portion sheathed With strips of exible translucent material colored to suit Weather conditions, substantially as described.

ln testimony whereof, l aiiin my signature.

vvrnnrnu n. Masoni/inert.

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